Tour of Catholic churches is Lenten history lesson

On the tour

The Seven Church Tour features the oldest Roman Catholic church buildings in Columbus. They
are:

•
Holy Cross Catholic Church, 204 S. 5th St., Downtown, dedicated 1848. The church
began with German families and later served both German and Irish immigrants. Fun fact: The church
contains more than 800,000 bricks.

•
St. Patrick Church, 280 N. Grant Ave., Downtown, dedicated 1853. Built to
accommodate the growing number of English-speaking Irish immigrants. Fun fact: Its towers are
patterned after ancient castles in Ireland.

•
St. Mary Catholic Church, 648 S. 3rd St. in German Village, dedicated 1868. Built
for South Side German-speaking Catholics. Fun fact: The German Gothic church is 62.5 feet wide, 140
feet long and 75 feet tall.

•
St. Joseph Cathedral, 212 E. Broad St., Downtown, dedicated 1872. Home of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus. Fun fact: The church was intended to accommodate overflow
parishioners from St. Patrick; shortly after construction began, plans were changed to build a
cathedral.

•
Holy Family Church, 588 W. Broad St. in Franklinton, dedicated 1877. Home to the
Jubilee Museum of Catholic heritage and a soup kitchen that serves more than 700 meals daily. Fun
fact: The church offers a weekly Latin Tridentine Mass.

•
St. John the Baptist Italian Catholic Church, 720 Hamlet St. in Italian Village,
dedicated 1898. Built so Italian immigrants could worship in and retain their native language. Fun
fact: Italian Village likely earned its name from the church, not the ethnically diverse
neighborhood.

•
Community of Holy Rosary and St. John the Evangelist Church, 648 S. Ohio Ave. on
the South Side, dedicated 1898. Built to accommodate outgrowth from St. Mary’s. Fun fact: Built on
a more-modest scale, the church resembles the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

Sources: the Rev. Joshua Wagner, the
Seven Church Tour Guide and Inspiration Book

Three daylong tours were planned. The first two each attracted 110 people. The final session, on
Saturday, was able to accept only 57 people because of the unavailability of charter buses. It is
sold out.

Wagner hopes to offer the tours again next year. The day starts Downtown at Holy Cross Catholic
Church, which was dedicated in 1848. It ends at the Community of Holy Rosary and St. John the
Evangelist on the South Side, dedicated in 1898.

“It’s really a pilgrimage in your backyard,” said Wagner, who is pastor at Holy Rosary/St. John.
Buses stop at suburban churches to pick up participants, who pray the rosary as they head Downtown.
They pray at every church and end the event with Mass. A stop at Holy Family Church in Franklinton
includes a visit to its Jubilee Museum of Catholic heritage and highlights the work of its soup
kitchen.

Lunch comes from Freshbox Catering, which employs homeless people, Wagner said, so the trip
helps “people getting back on their feet.”

Wagner, who was ordained a priest in 2004, worked as a tour guide while studying in Rome and has
since led a number of group visits to Italy.

“I think history connects us. It makes us feel connected to the things that came before us,” he
said. “And I think we need that sense of connection.”

Wagner said he seeks to bring attention to Downtown parishes, which are largely “destination
churches” drawing people from the suburbs rather than their own neighborhoods.

The tour also builds community, reminding participants of what they have in common, said Frank
Wickham, the chairman of the finance advisory committee at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in German
Village, one of the tour stops.

Participants gain insight into church objects such as stained-glass windows, paintings and
statues that “spoke” to early parishioners who might have been unable to read English.

“I think it helps you to focus more,” said Nora Matera, who took the tour as a Lenten activity
with her husband.

A native New Yorker, she said she has visited churches in her hometown and in Rome and was
interested to see the history in Columbus.

“The church kind of stands the test of time,” said Matera, who is on the staff at Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Parish in Grove City. “The Catholic Church has been around for so long, and ... when
you come down to it, it’s the same thing that has always been at the core root.”